About MyPocket
Fair-eZone, which focuses on payment and money transfer services, developed MyPocket’s mobile app as a means of fulfilling its mission to offer essential financial services to European residents.
The Financial Control Authority (FCA) approved and authorized Fair-eZone as an Electronic Mobility Device Agent of Prepaid Financial Services Limited. Likewise, MyPocket is FCA-authorized and -regulated as an Electronic Money Institution.
Can I use MyPocket for international bank transfers?
Yes, you can use MyPocket for international bank transfers. MyPocket offers three options for transferring money abroad:
Option 1: Pocket to Pocket
This option is free of charge and allows you to transfer money to another MyPocket user anywhere in the world. However, if your beneficiary is not yet a member, you can either ask them to subscribe to MyPocket or use either of the two other options.
To facilitate the transfer, you need to provide the telephone number or email address of the beneficiary.
Option 2: Pocket to Bank
Select this option from the Transfer tab of the app when you need to transfer money in Europe within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) zone. It may take the form of either a Euro or GBP transfer.
A Euro transfer is used when your source account is in euros. The beneficiary will receive the money in euros. You need to identify the transfer's beneficiary by providing the bank account holder's name, the BIC/SWIFT code of the beneficiary's bank, and the IBAN code of the beneficiary's account.
Your source account transfers in sterling in a GBP transfer, and the beneficiary's account receives the money in sterling. Before processing this transfer, you must provide the account holder’s name, the beneficiary’s bank sort code, the account number of the beneficiary’s GBP account.
Option 3: Pocket to World
Choose this option from the app's Transfer tab when you want to send money outside the euro zone.
Provide the name and contact details of the beneficiary, after which you select a delivery mode. You will be asked additional information depending on the selected delivery mode. When you key in the amount to be sent in the currency of the beneficiary’s country, you will be shown the equivalent amount in your source account’s currency, including the applied exchange rate.
Regardless of your choice of money sending service, you will be asked for your transfer's purpose and the amount to be sent as part of fraud and money laundering prevention.
How long do transfers take with MyPocket?
For Pocket to Pocket, transfers take place instantaneously.
Completing EUR transfers via Pocket to Bank may take 24 to 48 hours, while GBP transfers may take a few hours.
Outgoing EUR bank transfers are processed from Monday to Friday until 2:30 p.m. only, while GBP transfers are handled from Monday to Friday, from 12:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. UK time.
Incoming EUR transfers are processed from Monday to Friday; GBP transfers are processed daily from 1:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Paris time.
Processing time of Pocket to World transfer varies, depending on the policies of the beneficiary’s bank.
Are there transfer limits?
So long as you have a sufficient available balance in your account, there is no limit to the amount you can transfer.
The incoming transfer limit is based on your load limit. For example, if you are a free access user, your unit load limit is 1500 EUR or 1400 GBP, and your maximum authorized balance is 3000 EUR or 2800 GBP.
For Premium subscribers, the unit load limit is EUR3000 or GBP2500, and the maximum authorized balance is 10000 EUR or 8500 GBP.
Can I use a MyPocket debit card when traveling abroad?
Yes, you can use your MyPocket card in establishments that accept Mastercard, subject to charges.
For ATM withdrawals: 3 EUR ( or 3 GBP) or 2% of the withdrawn amount, whichever is higher
For payments made outside of SEPA, you will be charged 0.75 EUR (or 0.75 GBP) plus 1.15% of the amount
MyPocket Exchange rates and fees
The exchange rate will depend on real-time rates and will be displayed by the app at the transaction time. However, there is a mark-up fee of 1.5% to cover currency exchange and international outgoing SWIFT payments.
Transfer rate
Free access subscribers are entitled to three free transfers per month, while premium subscribers get ten per month. Above these free transfers, subscribers will be charged 0.30 EUR or 0.30 GBP for Pocket to Pocket transactions and 1EUR or 1GBP for Pocket to Bank transactions.
The transfer fee for Pocket to World will depend on the country of destination. The app will display the cost when the transfer order has been validated.
Additional costs
No additional transfer-related cost was mentioned on the company's website.
How do MyPocket transfer fees compare to using a money transfer provider?
Despite the 1.5% mark-up, MyPocket transfer fees seem to be lower than what money transfer providers charge. But to be on the safe side, you can use its transfer simulator and compare the resulting amount with money transfer providers.
MyPocket pros and cons
Let us look at MyPocket's pros and cons regarding convenience, economy, security, and client support.
Pros
Cons
Summary
MyPocket's noble mission of financial inclusion to enable social inclusion sets it apart from other digital banking services. With its tagline, "Money to the People," it hopes to empower people – regardless of social class – to manage their finances and send money to their loved ones abroad.
MyPocket mobile app’s innovative design is consistent with its mission. It makes banking affordable and accessible for people who cannot avail of banking services through traditional banking processes.
The app has earned for Fair-eZone, the company that conceptualized MyPocket, two recognitions: one is from Pole Finance Innovation in the Social and Solidarity Economy category, and the other is from the Afric’Startinov, as the most promising start-up.
Subscription to MyPocket can either be free or fee-based. Both options give subscribers access to essential banking services that include deposit, withdrawal, and money transfer. In addition, the subscription entitles the member to a free international bank account and an international Mastercard.
With the service authorized and regulated by the Financial Control Authority, subscribers are assured that their money is safe with MyPocket.
Besides the benefit of security, MyPocket also promises its subscribers the benefits of convenience and economy. For example, subscribers can complete their usual bank transactions with just a few taps.
MyPocket's transfer simulator is a delightful feature for subscribers who need to do Pocket to World transfers. It gives them real-time information on the exchange rate, fees, and the amount their intended beneficiary will be getting in their currency.
However, the fees and limits on several transactions seem to cancel any economic benefit the digital service offers. Although the fees are minimal, the accumulated charges for several transactions may turn out to be significant.
Is it worth subscribing to MyPocket? Yes, but ultimately, it will depend on how fast it responds to the actual needs of its subscribers.
